The Pillars of the Earth, a Canada/Germany co-production, has been bought by Starz for an American airing.  The miniseries, based on the 1989 Ken Follett novel, will debut with a 90-minute premiere in July 2010.  Six 45-minute episodes will follow.

The $40 million series is a co-production between Muse Entertainment, Tandem Communications and Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Films.  Donald Sutherland, Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Matthew Macfadyen, Eddie Redmayne, Hayley Atwell and Alison Pill star.

I’m not sure how Canadian The Pillars of the Earth is.  The Movie Network/Movie Central greenlit The Pillars of the Earth for its 2009-10 lineup, but it’s not straight CanCon like Call Me Fitz or Living in Your Car.  Donald Sutherland’s a main draw, as if that’s an unexpected casting choice in this country.

Much has been made of new Starz CEO/chairman Chris Albrecht’s first major programming decision.  Albrecht resigned as HBO CEO/chairman in 2007 after being arrested on assault charges in Las Vegas.

I don’t need to explain Albrecht’s tenure on HBO.  The Sopranos, The Wire, Sex and the City, Six Feet Under, Deadwood…the man’s had a hand in all those series.  The Pillars of the Earth is supposed to be his opening salvo, as Starz attempts a war of pork swords with premium cable competitors HBO and Showtime.

A few years ago, I would have made jokes about Starz being the extra testicle of American premium cable.  It still is, but at least Starz is stepping up its game.  I’m just amazed to see the words “Canada,” “$40 million” and “television” in the same sentence.  High-budget Canadian television?  That’s almost oxymoronic, there.

The Border has been cancelled by CBC after three seasons.  Etan Vlessing first mentioned the cancellation through The Hollywood Reporter on February 26.

CBC scheduled the third season of The Border after Doc Zone.  Doc Zone is a perpetually low-rated documentary block.  It’s a weak lead-in, despite Doc Zone being one of the most underrated hours on CBC.

The Border has never attracted great ratings.  An average of 700,000 viewers is decent for CBC, but The Border has never been a breakout hit.  This isn’t like CBC killing jPod or Wild Roses, now.

As for Republic of Doyle, the ratings are decent enough for renewal.  The show has dipped to around 500,000-600,000 viewers by now, but so has 18 to Life.  RoD’s where The Border was two seasons ago.

As a result of Republic of Doyle’s renewal, Shaftesbury Films’ Tangled will not make series.  Sarah Wayne Callies and Leslie Hope are in the pilot, at least according to an EW.com interview.

Callies is best known for her role as Dr. Sara Tancredi on Prison Break (2005-09.)  Hope is best known as Teri Bauer on Fox ratings behemoth 24 (2001-  .)  Hope also played Lisa Cohen on ABC’s short-lived Line of Fire (2003-04.)

I suspect Tangled will be tossed into a June timeslot of doom, a fate met by most unsold CBC pilots.  I’d rather see Jack Bauer’s dead wife and Dr. Tancredi’s severed head than a Leah McLaren biopic.  Wouldn’t you?

Canwest Broadcasting and Lone Eagle Entertainment have announced an English-Canadian version of Wipeout.  The Endemol Group format has contestants run obstacle courses that aren’t cribbed from Takeshi’s Castle and Sasuke, oh no.  No further details about Wipeout Canada have been announced, aside from a 2011 airdate.

This isn’t the first version of Wipeout to hit Canadian shores.  Wipeout Québec, which debuted in 2009, currently airs thrice-weekly on V.  This has previously been mentioned by Steve Faguy, who points out the basic flaw in the Wipeout Canada press release.

I have a feeling Wipeout Canada will be cut-rate, given Lone Eagle Entertainment’s game show past.  The company is going from You Bet Your Ass, Inside the Box and Game On to Wipeout Canada.  Wipeout is a far cry from dinky podiums and a slumming Stewart Francis.

Wipeout Canada is a better fit for GameTV, which needs higher-profile shows than Love Handles and, uh, Supermarket Sweep.  GameTV is such a quaint channel.  Reruns of The Mad Dash and Just Like Mom sound far more appealing than a second season of Carlawood.  Maybe it’s just me.

New episodes of Departures, Which Way To…, Word Travels and Angry Planet will air in March 2010, as part of Outdoor Life Network’s weekend lineup.

Departures will begin its third season March 6, 2010 at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT.  The other three shows debut March 7, 2010.  Which Way To… begins at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT, followed by Word Travels at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT and Angry Planet at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT.

All four shows are travelogues, which means they’re under the radar as far as CanCon goes.  OLN is decent at mounting documentary-type shows, something the channel doesn’t get enough credit for.

Having typed that, Rogers wants OLN to feature outdoor-themed comedies, animated shows and “stick and ball” sports.  That’s what OLN needs, the Toronto Blue Jays and twenty-one-year-old reruns of Mosquito Lake.  Rogers’ business decisions make me want to bang my head into a wall.

Cra$h & Burn, Showcase’s first stab at an hourlong drama series, will partner with BBC Worldwide for international distribution of the show.

Cra$h & Burn will feature at the 2010 BBC Showcase, where potential broadcast and cable suitors will eye its nine-and-a-half hours.  Creator Malcolm MacRury and star Luke Kirby will attend the event.

Cra$h & Burn has just completed its first season on Showcase.  I wasn’t too high on the show when it debuted, but Cra$h & Burn has become very good in recent weeks.

The show has become more-or-less straight drama with comedic flourishes.  The writing is gutsy enough to (mild spoiler, kids) write off Dan Duran’s character near the end of Cra$h & Burn’s first season.  It’s become a good fit for Showcase.

The deal with BBC Worldwide strengthens the show’s chances for renewal.  I hope Showcase isn’t stupid enough to cancel Cra$h & Burn, or put it up on blocks like it has Testees.  Speaking of which, whatever happened to Shattered?

As of today, Pure Pwnage has an exact airdate.  The show will debut on Showcase Friday, March 12, 2010 at 10:00 PM, for an eight-episode first season.

This site has mentioned Pure Pwnage before, and not much has changed since November 25, 2009.  Seven of ten behind-the-scenes webisodes are currently up at www.purepwnage.com/tv/ and showcase.ca.

Guest stars for Pure Pwnage’s first season include Steve “Lips” Kudlow, Billy Mitchell and Kenny Hotz.  Not to niggle, but what does the lead singer/guitarist for Anvil have to do with gaming?

Canwest’s press release for Pure Pwnage describes what “to pwn,” “1337,” “n00b” and FPS mean.  That’s sort of lame, but at least Canwest doesn’t get Derek Harvie’s name wrong.  Oh, wait.

Uh…the press release doesn’t contain the phrase “surprise buttsecks.”  Hey, there’s a positive!  I knew I’d find one!

Howard Bernstein of Medium Close-Up has posted a “very trustworthy rumour” (his words) that Lloyd Robertson will resign from his role as CTV National News anchor very soon.

Robertson has refuted the rumour, dismissing it as “a fascinating work of fiction” on CKNW’s The Bill Good Show.  The 76-year-old anchor insists that, contrary to Medium Close-Up’s assertion, he is not tired of the daily grind.

Lloyd Robertson is one of North America’s longest-lasting anchors, at least on a national level.  Robertson has anchored CTV National News since 1976, sharing the desk with Harvey Kirck until 1984.  He previously anchored CBC’s The National from 1970 to 1976.  The man is a Canadian broadcasting legend.

On the other hand, Robertson’s 76.  Robertson is a classy and durable anchorman, but I wonder how much time the man has left.  Robertson has to pass the torch at some point in the near future.

I should note that I do not watch CTV National News.  I find it too self-important.  I respect Robertson for his longevity, but network news broadcasts as a whole are obsolete in the digital age.  Robertson, Kevin Newman and Peter Mansbridge are all talking heads in the grand scheme of things.

A number of news outlets have reported that a four-alarm fire completely gutted the CTV Ottawa newsroom earlier this morning.

The CTV Ottawa studio building, located at 1500 Merivale Road, has suffered at least $2.5 million in damage.  The office building adjacent to the studio remains intact.  The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

As a temporary measure, CTV Ottawa will broadcast its news from the ‘A’ building in the Byward Market.  ’A’ Ottawa has not mounted local evening newscasts since March 2009.

CTV Ottawa’s news archives have been damaged.  It’s sad to see 49 years of history disappear like this.  CTV Ottawa can rebuild, but much of its history is now available only on VHS tapes, DVD-Rs and other consumer media.

The real tragedy is how negligent CJOH/CTV Ottawa has been in preserving its history.  If CTV Ottawa hasn’t backed up its archives, then it has lost an irreplaceable part of itself.  I’m not a Max Keeping fan by any means, but no one deserves to have his/her life’s work – 37 years for Keeping – literally go up in flames.  This is a truly sad day for Canadian television.